August 20, 2001
Texas students see world's needs through M-Fuge
___By Mike Creswell
___SBC International Mission Board
___LONDON--A group of Texas Baptist students traveling in Europe this summer got more of an education than the typical student tourists.
___"I was surprised to find so many people don't know about Jesus," explained Ramiro Torres of Beeville.
___He and 73 other students and leaders saw a London far different from the British castles, Big Ben and Parliament most American tourists see. They worked a week in north London, crowded with immigrants and refugees from around the world, including many from countries closed to the gospel.
___The students were taking part in the first week of M-Fuge, part of the Centrifuge program sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources and the International Mission Board.
___Southern Baptist missionaries who work with groups of M-Fuge students in London say the idea is not just to just give the students a missions experience, but actually to do missions that will help get churches started among some of the world's hardest-to-reach people.
___Although it was the first time Torres had flown overseas, he said the real highlight of the week for him was visiting in the home of a Romanian family where a woman had just watched the video they had given her about the life of Jesus.
___"We shared Christ with them, and it was interesting to see how they lived and all," said the 17-year-old who is a member of First Baptist Church in Kenedy and lives at South Texas Children's Home.
___The week was "a bittersweet experience," he added. "I was so happy to travel and visit different people. It was amazing, learning about their cultures. But, unfortunately, most of their cultural backgrounds did not allow for them to accept Jesus, let alone hear about him.
___"This depressed me, but I was motivated to keep on sharing the good news," he said.
___The M-Fugers distributed more than 1,500 videos on the life of Christ in the first two weeks, but Torres said many doors were closed in their faces and they heard "not interested" many times.
___Meanwhile in Pembroke, Wales, Brooks Anderson held a middle school religion class' attention as he told them how coming to a faith relationship with Jesus Christ rescued him from drugs and considering suicide.
___"It's a miracle to me that I'm still alive, considering all the things I did," he told the students. Anderson, 16, is a member of First Baptist Church of Texarkana and a junior at Pleasant Grove High School.
___The students spoke at schools, visited nursing homes and distributed "Jesus" videos. Bible study, prayer and worship were important parts of each day's program in all locations.
___Although considered a "Christian" nation by most Americans, scenic Wales is now a vast mission field, where only about 3 percent of the population have any church ties.
___Brooks Anderson (above) of Texarkana tells a middle school religion class in southern Wales that he was using drugs and considering suicide until he became a follower of Jesus Christ. Anderson,16, a member of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, held the students spell-bound with his plain-spoken testimony. Below, Ramiro Torres of Beeville plays basketball in a park in north London in a neighborhood filled with immigrants and refugees. Sports helped M-Fuge participants get to know families and share the Christian faith with them. (IMB photos by Mike Creswell and Denise McGill)
The Baptist Standard
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